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I plan to ask my surgeon next week when I have a follow-up appointment but wonder if there is any reason why a surgeon would use an 18 cm implant with three cm rear tip instead of a 21 cm implant?

AMS LGX length 18CM X diameter12MM plus 3 cm rear tip according to the card in my information packet.

Also, does anyone know what the 12 mm diameter figure means. I thought the diameter of the rear of the implant was 9 mm.

Thanks

Wishing you a speedy recovery.

For AMS, there is an inflatable part of the cylinders and there is non-inflatable. The diameter of the inflatable part is 12mm (1/2") and the non-inflatable part is 9mm. Not sure how long would be the non-inflatable part for an 18cm implant. For the 21cm, it is about 5 cm (2").

Not sure why would the surgeon use 18+3 vs 21. A wild guess would be for pump positioning and the location of the tubes going into the cylinders. If he would have used 21, then the tubes would have entered the cylinders way to the back and the pump would have been quite high.

I think it has something to do with angle. With the rte you can get the hinge effect

hturner12 wrote:I think it has something to do with angle. With the rte you can get the hinge effect

Yup, I think you are right.

Larry

Some guys have rather short cavernousa inside pelvis while others have a significant portion. The positioning of the inflatable cylinders should be consistently placed in each patient Although most surgeons are implanting with as few rte as possible, there are those of us that just can't be implanted with 2 or fewer rtes. My AMS rep was in the OR during my first surgery and commented that I was a rare patient. It just could be that simple.

hturner12 wrote:I think it has something to do with angle. With the rte you can get the hinge effect

Which is why fewer rear tip extenders are better, usually

I forgot about the need to use tip extenders for pump positioning purposes and did not even consider the dimensions of the cavernosum into the crus. Thanks robocock444.

medhatg wrote:Not sure why would the surgeon use 18+3 vs 21. A wild guess would be for pump positioning and the location of the tubes going into the cylinders. If he would have used 21, then the tubes would have entered the cylinders way to the back and the pump would have been quite high.

Medhatg,

I think you are exactly right with your wild guess. I'm pretty sure that's why my pump is on the high side. My corpora may be 21 cm, but more than an average amount is internal (judging by the relatively short length of my external penis). So a fair amount of the tubing is not available for the pump to hang down far. I'm debating whether or not to go through with a revision that would add tubing and enable a lower positioning of the pump.
I believe my doctor used the 21 cm vs the 18cm + RTEs to give me the best chance to regain some of the length I lost from the prostatectomy. With regular cycling, I am seeing some gains, and I've only been cycling for 9 weeks.

Lost Sheep,

Wishing you the best for a speedy recovery (although sometimes it may seem like it is taking forever) and hard times ahead!

Bob
2.3

I also have an AMS LGX that's 18cm with 3cm RTE. I asked my surgeon why he did that versus a 21cm. His answer was a portion of the penis is outside and a portion inside and that is one factor and the other is the relationship of the back end of the implant to the location of the pump. I did not ask for clarification, but assumed that meant a guy with lowhanging balls versus my tighter sac would maybe require something different.

Greg1956 wrote:I also have an AMS LGX that's 18cm with 3cm RTE. I asked my surgeon why he did that versus a 21cm. His answer was a portion of the penis is outside and a portion inside and that is one factor and the other is the relationship of the back end of the implant to the location of the pump. I did not ask for clarification, but assumed that meant a guy with lowhanging balls versus my tighter sac would maybe require something different.

Yes, indeed. The Northwestern AMS representative was kind enough to respond to my text and reiterated what I heard here. I am reassured, and did not have to bother my surgeon.

Good customer service from AMS.

Lost Sheep wrote:

Greg1956 wrote:I also have an AMS LGX that's 18cm with 3cm RTE. I asked my surgeon why he did that versus a 21cm. His answer was a portion of the penis is outside and a portion inside and that is one factor and the other is the relationship of the back end of the implant to the location of the pump. I did not ask for clarification, but assumed that meant a guy with lowhanging balls versus my tighter sac would maybe require something different.

Yes, indeed. The Northwestern AMS representative was kind enough to respond to my text and reiterated what I heard here. I am reassured, and did not have to bother my surgeon.

Good customer service from AMS.

When I first got my implant, I had a lot of questions... rather that bugging my very busy surgeon, I called the AMS rep for our area and he was FANTASTIC. He answered ALL of my questions with great detailed answers. I could not have hoped for more. A truly great company and customer service.

Larry